Sweet and Sour Tempeh Rice

This Sweet and Sour Tempeh Rice Rice recipe is a vibrantly flavorful tropical main dish that is both vegetarian and vegan.

Today I’m bringing you this Sweet and Sour Tempeh Rice in partnership with ZICO Coconut Water; this partnership felt like such a no-brainer since coconut water is already usually part of my daily routine. I’ve stuck to ZICO since it’s one of the few brands available in my neck of the woods that doesn’t add sugar to their coconut water. Despite drinking it often as an afternoon pick-me-up, I’ve never tried incorporating coconut water into my cooking before this recipe (outside of throwing it into smoothies). I’ve made a similar version of this recipe with water before but adding ZICO’s new chilled coconut water + orange juice blend brought a deeper sweet flavor (without added sugar) that helped compliment the savory rice and veggies perfectly.

Make sure you have everything prepped before starting this recipe because you’ll need to keep your full attention on the wok or skillet since everything cooks fast over high heat. This rice is a bit stickier, but more flavorful, than the normal fried rice you’d pick up at a restaurant because of the sweet and sour sauce that it is sautéed in. You could make this with tofu or eggs instead of the tempeh but I find that tempeh holds up better to the sautéing in this recipe as tofu tends to break apart easily when handled too much.